DAYS: Tomlin/Whitesell OUT! Higley/Griffith IN!

[Soapsuds]

Ha…is he still writing for that??

[detroitpiston]

I liked Marlene's DOOL too for the most part, the stories just never took off where they needed to.

[John]

I loved the stories but the pacing was too damn slow

[DRW50]

It was the worst-paced soap I've ever seen, at least until GH this last year. Rafe and Carrie fell in love after about two days, Jennifer blamed Jack for his being tortured in about two days, Will accepted being gay in about three days and was going to gay bars offcamera. If they'd spent half as much time on building up moments as they did on Chandler Massey bellowing that his mother was a bitch and a whore, they might still have a job.

[KMan101]

I liked MarDar too. They weren't given enough time. The first few months of their stint were fine. It was very clear by the beginning of 2012 the show became a hot mess and likely due to interference. They weren't given much of a chance. It also helped that they made Melanie tolerable for me and RESTED Daniel for a while. That alone elevates them in my book.

I'd take them back over Higley and Tomlin.

[cassadine1991]

I did enjoy most of Marlene and Darrell like seeing Abby be all Fatal Attraction with Austin, Jennifer DID dump Daniel to return to Jack, although Jack's PTSD was rarely touched upon, the whole Gina/Pawn redux with that damn egg fell flat,, and Daniel being Maggie's rotten egg baby

[NothinButAttitude]

Understandable, boo! Understandable.

With Vince, Stephanie, and HHH in power, NO ONE can do wonders with WWE. Only writers that ever challenged Vince were Jim Cornette and Paul Heyman, and I doubt they'd ever allow them back into the writer's room.

WWE became sh*t when they went PG--a concept that Super Cena pitched. By doing that, they lost the grit and appealing factor they once had. No longer could they develop complex characters like they had from 96-07.

[KMan101]

I think all of that mess was interference. They had a plan when they first came on and the show felt like Days of Our Lives to me. I think they were told to write Daniel as the eggbaby. I think they were told to sideline Jack's PTSD. None of what ended up happening was what they were initially writing.

[cassadine1991]

Yeah, the first few months were looking great

[Khan]

I assume David Cherrill is leaving the writing staff as well?

[DRW50]

The main problem is ideas don't work unless they are properly fleshed out. I think Jack's PTSD was a good idea, but I question whether they the ability to write it. And her AMC writing doesn't convince me she could have written it even without interference.

Everything else in their first month or two, like Will's endless verbal abuse and tantrums, the inane "grief sex" cliche, the confusing, pointless corporate espionage story with John (of all people), super rushed Carrie/Rafe, the Madison mess - it just didn't seem like anything to build on.

[Vee]

I just felt that, for a brief period anyway (and I didn't see how far it went off the rails), when those two took over in 2011 the show felt like it was written for intelligent people for the first time in however many aeons. It felt like Days was gearing up to seriously compete as opposed to being off in its own loopy universe.

Since Ken Corday is only really comfortable with various shades of supercheap, Reilly-esque mediocrity I wasn't shocked when they got dumped. I thought a lot of what McPherson seemed good at, in terms of her human interest, her community sensibility and her willingness to talk about working professionals or varying degrees of tortured angst, carried over to her AMC. But in fairness, those are things that were already crucial to AMC and part and parcel of its existing staff without her - she also had her co-writer Snyder at AMC, and the long-standing replacements/sub-writers like Lisa Connor and Chip Hayes, as well as, I'm sure, some major influence from Agnes Nixon, whose hand was clear in the wonderful abortion story.

In any event, I haven't been interested in Days since.

[KMan101]

I agree that their pacing was a mess. They were green HW's and they needed someone stronger to guide them.

I think with DAYS there's just too much interference. We will likely never know the whole story of who wrote what and who is responsible for what. IMO.

I'd still take them over Higley and Tomlin.

[DRW50]

That's fair. I see what you mean.

It's sad that I spend more time talking about this than Higley's return. I just...what can you say? It's a lazy, counterproductive move. It's safe in all the worst ways. And it shows that Ken Corday doesn't get it.

[Vee]

I don't think anyone can succeed at DAYS. It is written too far out, on the cheap, and micromanaged by a man who never knows what he wants.